In the dense forests, a fiery shadow swept forth. Soon after, the figure on its back waved his hand downwards, as they slowly came to a stop.

“Cough.”

After Little Flame had stopped, a pale color spread across Lin Dong’s face, causing him to let out a light cough. He quickly took out ten Pure Yuan pills and consumed them. When he felt his body gradually recover some Yuan Power, he quietly sighed in relief.

“That final move by city lord Shi is truly formidable.”

Lin Dong mumbled to himself. Previously, he had been forced to utilise the dragon transformation halberd of the Ancient Heavenly Scales Halberd technique. With his current strength, he was barely able to use this move, however, its might was excellent. Even so, he was still able to withstand city lord Shi’s astonishing attack. The present given by that Nirvana stage elite was truly extraordinary.

“Although they are both at the Form Creation stage, city lord Shi is quite a bit weaker than Wang Yan.”

While recovering the Yuan Power in his body, Lin Dong’s eyebrows slightly furrowed. When he exchanged blows with Wang Yan, he was practically always at a disadvantageous position. In the end, if it was not for the latter’s negligence and the aid of the Symbol Puppet, Lin Dong could not have possibly injured the latter. Yet, he had been able to rely on his own power to battle against the Form Creation stage city lord Shi today.

“The Creation stages are likewise divided into different ranks. However, these ranks are not as complicated as the Yuan Dan stage, and are only split into initial and advanced masteries. However, although there are only two levels, the difference between them is rather huge.”

Little Marten appeared on Lin Dong’s shoulder and casually said: “That person from before was at best initial Form Creation stage, while Wang Yan had already reached the advanced mastery stage. From there, making a breakthrough to the Qi Creation stage is only a matter of time. Additionally, Wang Yan’s Secret Art, martial arts and weapon etc. are much stronger than city lord Shi’s. The fact that you were not his match is only logical.”

“Initial and advanced mastery…”

Upon hearing this, Lin Dong suddenly had a flash of understanding. No wonder he felt that there was quite a big difference between the two. It turns out that this Form Creation stage was split into different levels. As for Little Marten’s last few words, he ignored them as usual.

“Kid, what do you plan to do now?” Little Marten sat down on Lin Dong’s shoulder as it lazily asked.

Lin Dong was silent for a while, before he said: “Let’s go to the Great Desolate Province first. The journey will not be short, and we will have to pass through several huge cities and mountains along the way. However, that is good as well. There are a great number of sects in the Great Desolate Province, and as many practitioners as the clouds in the sky; an extremely dangerous and chaotic place. If I can advance to the Form Creation stage or the fourth seal Symbol Master en route, the chances of obtaining the ‘Ancestral Symbol’ will be greater when we reach our destination.”

“Okay, it would also be best to master the first layer of the Bronze Thunder Body. At that time, you will be able to manage even if you meet an advanced Form Creation stage opponent.” Little Marten laughed and said.

“That will not be so easy…” Lin Dong softly sighed. He had already used up a lot of time to open the remaining channels and as for mastering the ‘Bronze Thunder Body’, he needed to draw lightning in order to temper his body. This step was rather dangerous and the slightest negligence would cause one to be struck dead by lightning. At that time, you could not voice out any of your grievances even if you wanted to.

“Let’s take it step by step…” Little Marten spread out its claws. There was no other way, the power of the Bronze Thunder Body was rather substantial and mastering it would naturally not be that easy.

Upon hearing that Little Marten did not have any constructive suggestions, Lin Dong could only helplessly shake his head, as he took out the map and tried to identify their location. He then lightly patted the tiger’s back, as Little Flame let out a roar before dashing into the dense forests like an arrow.

……

Lin Dong’s final destination, the Great Desolate Province, practically covered half the Great Yan Empire, and this distance was at least ten thousand miles. Even if Lin Dong had Little Flame as a means of transportation, it would take several months to reach, not including the numerous cities along the way…

After Lin Dong discussed with Little Marten, they decided not to take the main road or to enter any cities during this trip for the sake of not drawing any trouble to themselves. Instead, they would directly pass through the forests. Although Demonic Beasts run amok in these places, and it could not be considered very safe, compared to humans, these Demonic Beasts were evidently less complicated. Moreover, while journeying through the forests, Lin Dong could not only search for treasures and herbs, but he could also hunt Demonic Beasts as a form of training, and regard this part of the trip as actual combat training…

…

“Roar!”

A furious roar sounded out among the numerous towering trees in the forest. Soon after, a huge and smelly figure charged out of the forest, snapping several huge trees along its path. As this huge beast charged out, one could see that its body was covered with numerous vicious wounds, from which streams of blood gushed out. In the end, after struggling for some distance, it fell to the ground with a loud boom.

As this huge beast fell, a figure dashed out from the forest, and landed on the huge corpse with a smile on his face.

“Hss!”

The figure was bare-bodied, revealing some faint criss crossing scars. This body did not have humongous eye-piercing muscles, but when it stretched, it seemed as if an explosive power was under that taunt skin, causing one to feel a sense of danger.

This figure was naturally Lin Dong. Ever since he had left Yan City, he had spent almost half a month travelling through the dense woods. Over this period, he had spent the night in the open and fought to the death against countless Demonic Beasts. He spent practically everyday experiencing several difficult and desperate battles.

For example, this Devil Alligator Leopard was a violent Demonic Beast whose strength surpassed most perfect Yuan Dan stage practitioners. Together with its innate speed and power, even an initial Form Creation stage practitioner would find it troublesome to deal with one. Lin Dong had tangled with it for almost half a day before he finally whittled it to death.

Everyday, he had gone through this kind of cruel life or death struggle. Over this half a month, Lin Dong had evidently changed quite a lot. Although his smiling face still looked gentle and determined, when his eyebrows furrowed, a frightening and terrible aura would linger around him.

It was as if a dangerous being was hidden under that gentle face, and whenever someone would plan to do harm to him, he would immediately bare his sinister fangs.

“Tch!”

Lin Dong’s hands were wrapped in golden Yuan Power, before he entered the Devil Alligator Leopard through its softest part and grabbed a bloody Demonic Crystal. Then, he let out a whistle towards the forest.

As the whistle echoed out, a fiery shadow that reeked of blood dashed out, revealing itself to be Little Flame. Currently, it had a Demonic Beast in its huge mouth, but from the looks of it, it was already dead.

Casually tossing the Demonic Crystal in his hand to Little Flame, Lin Dong softly chuckled as he saw the latter’s happy appearance. Over this period of time, Little Flame had similarly experienced all kinds of killings and battles, and during this time, it strength had also rapidly grown. Lin Dong could sense that the Demonic Spirits gulped down by Little Flame in the old tomb were swiftly being refined, resulting in LIttle Flame’s aura growing increasingly dangerous. According to Lin Dong’s calculations, the current Little Flame was able to effortlessly deal with even a perfect Yuan Dan stage practitioner.

“I’ve already opened twenty of the Great Sun Thunder Body’s channels. There are only about half left before I completely unblock all of them.” While he sat and rested, Lin Dong sensed the Great Sun Thunder Yuan within his body was growing increasingly vigorous as each inner channel was unlocked. However, towards the end, the difficulty of unlocking the remaining channels increased. He had no idea when he would be able to fully unlock all the remaining twenty four channels.

“It’s still not bad… “ On Lin Dong’s shoulder, Little Marten stretched out its claws as he lazily said.

“When will you recover your Creation stage strength?” Lin Dong glanced at this fellow, who always seemed to be free, as he somewhat helplessly asked.

Upon hearing this, Little Marten’s claws went rigid. With traces of shame and anger in his voice, he said: “Make sure you take care of your own cultivation, what is a mere Creation stage in this grandfather marten’s eyes? As long as grandfather marten feels like it, I can reach it any time!”

Lin Dong rolled his eyes, as he was too lazy to bother with this guy who had his sore spot touched. After resting for a while, he stood up and waved towards Little Marten as he prepared to continue on his journey.

“Wait!”

Just as Lin Dong was planning to move out with Little Flame, Little Marten suddenly voiced out.

“What is it?” Lin Dong was taken aback, puzzled as he looked towards Little Marten, only to find that the latter had lifted its head to gaze at the sky, as a light flickered in its eyes.

Lin Dong was once again stunned. He lifted his head and gazed at the suddenly darkening skies, as faint sounds of thunder rumbled forth.

“If you want to master the Bronze Thunder Body, drawing lightning to temper your body is a necessary step. Moreover, if you are successful, you can make use of the power of lightning to increase the chances of unlocking those remaining inner channels.”

“Boom!”

Just as Little Marten’s words sounded out, a thunderclap rang out in the skies. A silvery light flashed past and Lin Dong watched as a huge tree in the distance was turned into ashes.

“This…”

As stared at the smoking remains of the destroyed tree, sweat suddenly appeared on Lin Dong’s forehead. He swallowed, forcing a smile as he said: “I think… there should be no need for this right?”

Purposely getting struck by lightning…such a thing…was not something any normal person would do.

“Hai, why cower so much, don’t even talk about getting Ling Qingzhu or defeating Lin Langtian, from what I can see, you can’t even compare to Wang Yan…” Little Marten ruffled its ears as it lazily said.

“Stop provoking me!”

Lin Dong glared daggers at Little Marten, before spitting out a mouthful of saliva. A fierce look surfaced on his face, as he took big strides towards the nearest mountain peak.

“God dammit, who’s afraid. Go ahead and strike me to death if you have the guts!”

As gazed at Lin Dong’s furious appearance, Little Marten beamed as he nodded his head. Right now, he seemed especially crafty and sly.